Function
The radial spoke is known to play a role in the mechanical movement of the flagellum/cilium. For example, mutant organisms lacking properly functioning radial spokes have flagella and cilia that are immotile. Radial spokes also influence the cilium "waveform"; that is, the exact bending pattern the cilium repeats.
How the radial spoke carries out this function is poorly understood. Radial spokes are believed to interact with both the central pair microtubules and the dynein arms, perhaps in a way that maintains the rhythmic activation of the dynein motors. For example, one of the radial spoke subunits, RSP3, is an anchor protein predicted to hold another protein called protein kinase A (PKA). PKA would theoretically then be able to activate/inactivate the adjacent dynein arms via its kinase activity.
However, the identities and functions of the many radial spoke subunits are just beginning to be elucidated.
Read more about this topic: Radial Spoke
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